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Germany believes life can return to normal soon with the right measures, while Spain and Italy see glimmers off hopeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEurope’s governments have begun to look ahead to the post-lockdown phase of their battle against Covid-19 as curves on the continent flatten, while the US braces for “peak death week” and Japan prepares to declare a state of national emergency.A leaked interior ministry document in Germany, which on Monday reported its fourth straight drop in daily cases, revealed a list of government measures that officials believe should allow public life to gradually resume after the end of the country’s lockdown, currently scheduled for 19 April. Continue reading...

Surgeon general warns of ‘Pearl Harbor moment’ as US faces ‘hardest week’Fauci: no evidence anti-malaria drug Trump pushes worksLive global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSupport the Guardian’s independent journalism. Make a contribution 3.17pm BST A Washington Post investigation showed the Trump administration missed key opportunities to prepare for the coronavirus crisis.The Post reports: The failure has echoes of the period leading up to 9/11: Warnings were sounded, including at the highest levels of government, but the president was deaf to them until the enemy had already struck.The Trump administration received its first formal notification of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China on Jan. 3. Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief. 3.04pm BST As America braces for the worst week of the coronavirus crisis yet, experts say there is one bit of good news.A projection on the pandemic shows the estmated number of overall deaths in the US has declined since last week. The University of Washington model, one of several cited by U.S. and some state officials, now projects U.S. deaths at 81,766 by Aug. 4, down about 12,000 from a projection over the weekend.The model, which is frequently updated with new data, projects the peak need for hospital beds on April 15 and for daily deaths at 3,130 on April 16. Continue reading...

Industry body assures people in open letter there is no link between 5G and pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAt least 20 mobile phone masts across the UK are believed to have been torched or otherwise vandalised since Thursday, according to government and industry sources who are increasingly concerned about the impact of baseless theories linking coronavirus to 5G networks.There have been noticeable clusters of attacks on masts around Liverpool and the West Midlands. Owing to the slow rollout of 5G in the UK, many of the masts that have been vandalised did not contain the technology and the attacks merely damaged 3G and 4G equipment. Continue reading...

Group of former diplomats and ministers says shifting rules on medical trade could save hundreds of thousands of livesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCoronavirus latest: at a glanceA group of 24 senior diplomats and defence officials, including four former Nato secretary generals, have urged Donald Trump to save “potentially hundreds of thousands of lives” across the Middle East by easing medical and humanitarian sanctions on Iran. Related: US ignores calls to suspend Venezuela and Iran sanctions amid coronavirus pandemic Continue reading...

My home town took pride in hard work and enterprise. But a reluctance to go into lockdown might have been disastrousCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageLombardy is one of the richest and most productive regions in Italy and Bergamo is its beating heart. It is also my home town: the city where I spent my childhood and adolescence. The province’s million inhabitants are characterised by a strong sense of belonging: to region and to family. They take pride too in a no-nonsense, practical approach to life and a powerful work ethic.Today, Bergamo holds the European record that no town wants: it is the place where the coronavirus pandemic has cast its darkest shadow. Bergamo is a lazaretto of pain, where the priority of hospital managers is to select only the patients they think will survive. Its undertakers are so overwhelmed they have to ask neighbouring communes to take their corpses for cremation. Continue reading...

Doctors will assess how PM is responding to coronavirus, including breathing issuesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests on Sunday night with persistent coronavirus symptoms, 10 days after testing positive. Some estimates suggest that about 5-10% of people with Covid-19 require hospital treatment.His admission to hospital indicates doctors want to check how his body is responding to the virus, which will probably involve carrying out the following tests: Continue reading...

The Curb Your Enthusiasm star praises Allen’s book, Apropos of Nothing, after protests greeted the first attempt to publish itLarry David has expressed his support for Woody Allen after reading the latter’s newly published autobiography, Apropos of Nothing, saying: “It’s hard to [think] that this guy did anything wrong.”In an interview published in the New York Times, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star and Seinfeld co-creator said : “Yeah, it’s pretty great, it’s a fantastic book, so funny … You feel like you’re in the room with him … and it’s hard to walk away after reading that book thinking that this guy did anything wrong.” Continue reading...

Judge makes major ruling in mass ‘dieselgate’ litigation against VW in England and WalesThe car manufacturer Volkswagen subverted key air pollution tests, a British court has found, by using special software to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides under test conditions. Related: Volkswagen in 'Dieselgate' settlement talks with 400,000 German owners Continue reading...

New shadow cabinet appointee Anneliese Dodds interrupted while speaking to Sky NewsCoronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Many parents working from home during the national lockdown have grown accustomed to their children interrupting virtual work meetings, but most don’t have it happen during a live news interview.Anneliese Dodds, the newly appointed shadow chancellor, was interrupted by her daughter while speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Without any gigs to perform, comics are spreading good cheer on Twitter and TikTok. Here’s a roundup of the latest from Suzi Ruffell, Jessica Fostekew, Mo Gilligan and othersWarning: contains strong language• See all our lockdown culture coverage• Coronavirus and culture – a list of major cancellationsYou may never hear the Skype ringtone in the same way again thanks to Suzi Ruffell.The real reason I’m late on every skype call. pic.twitter.com/yxNDp9tcT0 Continue reading...

In lawsuit, Michael Sanchez has accused AMI of plot to ‘scapegoat’ him, and has cast doubt on claim that he was the ‘sole source’ A top executive at the tabloid publisher behind the National Enquirer said in a private email that he was “saving for my tombstone” the untold story of how the tabloid uncovered a 2019 exclusive about Jeff Bezos’s extramarital relationship, according to a lawsuit against the publisher.The claim raises new questions about how American Media Inc (AMI) discovered the Amazon CEO’s relationship, and how it obtained knowledge of explicit sexual photographs that Bezos, one of the world’s richest men, has alleged were used against him by the publisher for “extortion and blackmail”. Continue reading...

Musicians drive around Budapest playing ‘uplifting’ classics from loudspeakersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOver the past week, Attila Kovács has been playing music to entertain the residents of Budapest, just as he has done for more than three decades as a viola player in the city’s MAV symphony orchestra.These days, however, the orchestra’s “performances” look rather different from usual. Hungary, like almost every other country in Europe, has banned large gatherings of people because of the coronavirus crisis, making live concerts impossible. Continue reading...

Frenchman found ‘exhausted and shivering’ after getting lost in PyrénéesA Frenchman caused a major alert this weekend after setting off across the Pyrénées to buy cheap cigarettes in Spain. Related: 'Coronavirus is not on holiday': France warns citizens against Easter travel Continue reading...

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across AustraliaSign up to get this delivered to your email every weekday eveningDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notificationsCoronavirus Australia maps and cases: live numbers and statisticsGood evening, here is our daily roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Ben Doherty bringing you the main stories on Monday 6 April. Continue reading...

Covid-19 is the subject of topical, colourful and attention-grabbing street art, whether it is for artistic, educational or political ends Continue reading...

Up to 100,000 women could be left unable to support families as brothels are closed amid fears of Covid-19 outbreakThe government of Bangladesh has started sending emergency food and aid to the tens of thousands of women working in the country’s commercial sex industry as brothels across the country close.To try to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the authorities have ordered the lockdown of the sex industry, closing the country’s biggest brothel in Goalanda in the Rajbari District of Dhaka until 5 April along with many others across the country. Continue reading...

Home Office urged to ‘act urgently’ to rescue vulnerable minors and reunite them with family while flights still availableAfter seven months of waiting, Ahmed* had everything ready for his younger brother. Finally, 18-year-old Wahid was due to arrive from the Greek island of Samos under family reunion laws.But on 19 March, as Covid-19 took hold across Europe, the Greek authorities called to tell him the transfer had been cancelled because of the growing restrictions on flights. Greece had suspended direct flights to the UK but indirect routes are still available. Continue reading...

Thousands of council workers could have been deployed by the government but were not asked Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage The government has been accused of missing an opportunity after it failed to deploy 5,000 contact tracing experts employed by councils to help limit the spread of coronavirus.Environmental health workers in local government have wide experience in contact tracing, a process used to prevent infections spreading and routinely carried out in outbreaks such as of norovirus, salmonella or legionnaires’ disease. But a spokesperson for Public Health England (PHE), which leads on significant outbreaks, said the organisation did not call upon environmental health workers to carry out contact tracing for coronavirus, instead using its own local health protection teams. Continue reading...